REMAX EUROPEAN LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006

RE/MAX LONG DRIVE CHAMPIONSHIP OF ENGLAND 2006
19TH AUGUST 2006
FARNHAM GOLF CLUB, SURREY, ENGLAND

England’s Richard Allen Thrashes Record Field

The largest and highest quality field of the season assembled at the traditional Farnham Golf Club in Surrey for the English National Long Drive Championship last Saturday.

On a showery morning it looked as if 300 metres was going to be the distance required for the capacity entry to progress to the first knockout round. Yorkshire’s Daniel Konyk led the field after this round with 333 metres (364 yds) with Wales’s Chris Roberts just sneaking into the next stage on 309m (338yds).

After the lunch break Senior Bob Nally blasted his first set of Pinnacles to 273m (298yds) to capture the RE/MAX Senior’s title for an amazing fourth time.

On a near perfect grid in freshening conditions the distances in the Open Division were always going to increase in the knock out stages. Indeed, drives had to be at least 320m (350yds) in order for Players to progress to the semi-final.

Newcomers to the competition beat several of the top tour players in this first round and subsequent ‘last chance’ round. Notable casualties were Chris Roberts and Sweden’s Johan Tumba.

In the closest of finals three players blasted to 319m (349 yds) for a tie for third place and could only be separated by the tape measure. This gave first timer Chris Moss 5th, Adam Stacey 4th and Joe Miller 3rd. Nearly twenty metres ahead of these was Finland’s Janos Uotilla, with 338m (370yds), who has travelled to all the European events this year. A deserved first place went to Acushnet employee and newcomer to the tour this year, Richard Allen with a tremendous drive of 341m (373yds). Richard, in only his second ever event, always looked powerful and clocked up huge distances all day.

European Finals qualifier badges were awarded to Ben Stanbrough, Chris Moss, Christian Sterning, Paul Slater and Paul Glazier, Bob Nally and Ron Bone. We look forward to seeing them all in Hollystown in September.

The Order of Merit table, compiled from points awarded at each round, is now looking very tight. Remember the top two from this table qualify automatically for the RE/MAX World Finals in Mesquite.

Topping the table with only two rounds to go is Adam Stacey. This is not significant, as Adam has already qualified for the World Finals by virtue of his third place finish last year. This leaves the two players in qualifying positions as Janos Uotila on 25 points and Johan Tumba on 19 points. Tumba, who is not due to play in Holland next week could easily be overhauled by Richard Allen (15), Joe Miller (15) and Marcus Edblad (14). These are followed by a group of players on 12 – 6 points.

Things are really hotting up and it is looking tense for a large number of players.

See you in Amsterdam this coming weekend.

Results:

Distances in Metres

OPEN DIVISION
1st - Richard Allen (ENG) - 341
2nd - Janos Uotila (FIN) - 338
3rd - Joe Miller (ENG) - 319

SENIORS DIVISION
1st - Bob Nally (ENG) - 273
2nd - Ron Bone (ENG) - 219

The following Players also join the above as qualified for the RE/MAX European Long Drive Championship on September 10th

OPEN DIVISION
Paul Slater
Chris Moss
Cristian Sterning
Paul Glazier
Ben Stanbrough

HI-TEC CDT POWER Longest Drive of the Day Winner
Richard Allen - 341 metres

HI-TEC CDT CUSTOM COMFORT Zone Winner
Matthew Cooper

For Full Results sheet in PDF Format - click HERE

To RETURN to main Results Page - click HERE